Posted on 03/05/2008 7:26:36 PM PST by atomic conspiracy
If you’ve wondered why so many mainstream media stories about Islamic issues omit important details and draw spurious morally equivalent conclusions, wonder no more. They’re doing it on purpose.
This was apparently released by the Society of Professional Journalists shortly after the 9/11 attacks: Guidelines for Countering Racial, Ethnic and Religious Profiling.
On Oct. 6 at its National Convention in Seattle, the Society of Professional Journalists passed a resolution urging members and fellow journalists to take steps against racial profiling in their coverage of the war on terrorism and to reaffirm their commitment to:
— Use language that is informative and not inflammatory;
— Portray Muslims, Arabs and Middle Eastern and South Asian Americans in the richness of their diverse experiences;
— Seek truth through a variety of voices and perspectives that help audiences understand the complexities of the events in Pennsylvania, New York City and Washington, D.C.
Guidelines
Visual images
— Seek out people from a variety of ethnic and religious backgrounds when photographing Americans mourning those lost in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.
— Seek out people from a variety of ethnic and religious backgrounds when photographing rescue and other public service workers and military personnel.
— Do not represent Arab Americans and Muslims as monolithic groups. Avoid conveying the impression that all Arab Americans and Muslims wear traditional clothing.
— Use photos and features to demystify veils, turbans and other cultural articles and customs.
Stories
— Seek out and include Arabs and Arab Americans, Muslims, South Asians and men and women of Middle Eastern descent in all stories about the war, not just those about Arab and Muslim communities or racial profiling.
— Cover the victims of harassment, murder and other hate crimes as thoroughly as you cover the victims of overt terrorist attacks.
— Make an extra effort to include olive-complexioned and darker men and women, Sikhs, Muslims and devout religious people of all types in arts, business, society columns and all other news and feature coverage, not just stories about the crisis.
— Seek out experts on military strategies, public safety, diplomacy, economics and other pertinent topics who run the spectrum of race, class, gender and geography.
— When writing about terrorism, remember to include white supremacist, radical anti-abortionists and other groups with a history of such activity.
— Do not imply that kneeling on the floor praying, listening to Arabic music or reciting from the Quran are peculiar activities.
— When describing Islam, keep in mind there are large populations of Muslims around the world, including in Africa, Asia, Canada, Europe, India and the United States. Distinguish between various Muslim states; do not lump them together as in constructions such as “the fury of the Muslim world.”
— Avoid using word combinations such as “Islamic terrorist” or “Muslim extremist” that are misleading because they link whole religions to criminal activity. Be specific: Alternate choices, depending on context, include “Al Qaeda terrorists” or, to describe the broad range of groups involved in Islamic politics, “political Islamists.” Do not use religious characterizations as shorthand when geographic, political, socioeconomic or other distinctions might be more accurate.
— Avoid using terms such as “jihad” unless you are certain of their precise meaning and include the context when they are used in quotations. The basic meaning of “jihad” is to exert oneself for the good of Islam and to better oneself.
— Consult the Library of Congress guide for transliteration of Arabic names and Muslim or Arab words to the Roman alphabet. Use spellings preferred by the American Muslim Council, including “Muhammad,” “Quran,” and “Makkah,” not “Mecca.”
— Regularly seek out a variety of perspectives for your opinion pieces. Check your coverage against the five Maynard Institute for Journalism Education fault lines of race and ethnicity, class, geography, gender and generation.
— Ask men and women from within targeted communities to review your coverage and make suggestions.
The father of activist media, Joseph Goebbels, must be looking up from hell right now and wondering why he could not have been born 60 years later.
Fourth Estate=Fifth Column. If these guidelines are not a smoking gun, nothing is.
Forget about truth, eh?
Given a choice, the left will usually side with evil.
I hate these people.
Can I still say that?
This is news?
This is why the internet is a great tool to counter this nonsense because of websites such as Daniel Pipes, Jihadwatch.org, and Little Green Footballs, ete.
You are clearly a reactionary and a prime candidate for re-education, Comrade yldstrk
“Truth” is an artificial textual construct of the oppressive white male hegemony designed to maintain its oppressive hegemonic dominance over oppressed womyn, oppressed people of color, and other oppressed victims of the white male hegemonic oppressors.
Can I have my journalism degree now?
Oh ya, don't call it Mecca, might have a bad connotation (I wonder why). More bull*#t from politically correct journalists.
It would not be suprising. This is why sites like this one are so very important.
Regardless, I am still calling Mecca, Mecca. That is the PROPER ENGELISH word.
There goes my dinner.
People forget the old saying, pictures like these DO NOT LIE.
The Lamestream Media strikes again!
To nearly 85% at my workplace yes. 1.5 out of 10 keep up (in my best guesstimate)
“Youths”
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